Staying on track . . .

It is the middle of January and it should be no surprise to anyone who has lived in the Northeast that we will most likely have a big snow storm or two during the winter. So while we await the first storm of the year, I am thinking about how I will get through the next several days of being snowed in. As I have been continuing my purging efforts around the house this month, that is part of my January 2019 focus, I have come across many unfinished projects and have added several of them to my TO DO list.

During the year, I often say to myself ..."when we have a winter storm, I will hunker down and  do one of those items on my list that requires a chunk of uninterrupted time". But the storm comes and the storm goes . . . and my list pretty much remains static. So, today, as I am sitting here watching the weather and wondering how bad the storm will be . . .if we will get the 20" of snow and the blizzard-like conditions they are predicting, I have decided that I need to rethink my old imaginary plan to knock those projects off my list.

The first thought I had is to create a project box for myself...something that has a name and a purpose...that I can open and find one of those undone projects inside that I always say I will work on during a storm, but never do. It might sound a bit simplistic, but for a person like myself, who is pulled in many directions by creative thoughts and urges, I am thinking this just might work. Of course, it will require some effort and stick-to-it-iveness on my part, but I am thinking of the good feelings I will have when I have accomplished whatever task I find inside. Once the plows have cleared the roads, we have shoveled our way out of the house and the sun comes back out, I will be able to feel that sense of accomplishment I anticipate.

So, today I will grab a couple of boxes and prepare some winter storm project boxes. I know one project will be a little flannel doll quilt that needs the binding sewn on. It is already pinned and with little effort, it can be finished. The next will be a box of photos that need sorting, labeling and sharing. I have a lot of photos, but one little shoe-box-sized project shouldn't be too daunting. I will make pretty labels for the boxes and place them in a prominent place on a shelf. I look forward to opening them on a snow day . . . maybe tomorrow!

For other things on my TO DO list that can't be put in a box, I might resurrect an old idea I learned about many years ago. I saw it in a magazine and although I can't give the person who wrote about it credit, I recall it was for families to use to get some household chores done. It might have included a reward system. There is ice cream in the freezer, so we are good on the rewards here. 🙂 The idea was to write down the chores on slips of paper, fold them in half, and put them in a fish bowl or a mason jar. I don't recall the details, but I have always thought it was a cute idea and it didn't involve any nagging or begging . . . which I know gets really tiring for parents! I might take a few of those unboxable items from my list and put them on slips of paper and bottle them. There are many little chores that take only 15 minutes or so to do, but I tend to tell myself I can do them later, and later never comes! The tedious microwave scrubbing and the dirty oven vents come to mind. Those old toothbrushes I save and some Q-tips will be my cleaning tools . . and that is probably why those chores never rise to the top of the TO DO list! Then there is the silverware drawer . . . how is it that it gets dirty inside when we put only clean utensils in it? For breaks, how about I actually watch some of the programs I have recorded that are taking up space on my DVR list? I mean . . . really . . . how many Hallmark movies can I keep on the list? At this rate, I will be watching them in July!

I am back on track in my studio . . . after a little post-holiday break and a vacation at Disney World. It took me a week or so to get back to my usual routine, but I am making things and, hopefully, I will get to those TO DO list items, too!

Click on the photo to enlarge it,

 if you would like a closer look.

February will be here before we know it!
I couldn't wait to break out the pink and red ribbons and trims and make this wreath!

Thank you for taking the time out of your day today to read my post. As always, I hope you and those you love are happy and healthy. Your questions and comments are welcome. You can comment here on my blog or on Facebook. I always read them and I will respond. And until we meet again, may the Lord hold you in the hollow of His hand.

Emmy

Cool Colors for a Cold January

When we are into the really cold weather of winter, I try to embrace it by using colors from the landscape inside our home. I took down much of the Christmas decor earlier than usual this year because after spending a week at Disney World, where everything was elegantly decorated for Christmas, I was on green and red overload! It really surprised me that I felt that way, but after seeing very tall tall trees decked out in every hotel lobby, restaurant and park, I was  ready for a calmer look inside our four walls.

I went to the closet to see what tablecloths I had ready to put on our dining room table and came across one that was my mother's. She had a lot of beautiful table cloths that she would use for special occasions. The one I found was one of her smaller ones and when I put it on our table, it fit . . . although it could stand to have another leaf in the table. But it works for me. As I handled the tablecloth and started to arrange the placemats and dishes, I was awash in memories of my mother and I started to wonder if she would like to see my pretty table with her tablecloth spread on it. I smiled and thought she would like it very much. 

If you would like a closer look, 

click on the photo to enlarge it

Cool Blue

A trip to the Dollar Tree for a little retail therapy provided the look I was wanting for under $25! I'm planning to get more use out of the new placemats, glass plates, bowls, goblets, and the glasses and trays on the mantle, when patriotic holidays roll around. The wreath was given to us for Christmas many years ago. I love how it all came together and it is in keeping with our 1846 house. 

When my mother was my age, she didn't have the spare time to think about decor and she definitely didn't have the conveniences that I have. She was still taking care of a large farmhouse and yard, cooking big noon-time meals for our family and the hired man who ate dinner with us, running errands, grocery shopping, and visiting and entertaining friends and relatives. Her shopping, conversations and friendships were not online. She drove to the store everytime she needed groceries, clothes, gifts, and household goods. She visited people face-to-face and when she couldn't drive to see them, she heard their voices on the phone. She organized her time and she got everything done.

The things we have now that are supposed to make our lives more convenient and streamlined might not really live up to our ideas of how effective and useful they are. For me, the time stolen from me daily by the notifications on my phone probably amounts to a couple hours, if I was to time it out. It makes me pause and rethink how I use the media and devices that are at my fingertips. And since it is a  new year, it is as good  time for me  to put into practice what I have considered many times. I am going to try to look at my phone fewer times throughout the day. I usually watch videos, read email, read and send text messages and look at Facebook in the morning while I wake up with my coffee. I will keep that routine because it is something I like and it seems to fit into how I spend the first part of my day. However, unless I need to make a call or send an email, I plan to put my phone down and look at it only a few more times during the day and early evening. That still sounds like a lot of time and maybe I will find that I can wean myself off of my devices more than I plan. Then I might enjoy more days like my mother and have the life I wish for. I would like more face-to-face visits and more phone calls. I miss hearing my friends and relatives voices. I think of all the things that I miss, what I miss the most is talking on the phone.

I am glad I have the opportunity to reach out to you via the internet on my blog, and I know it takes time out of your day when you read my posts. I am very grateful to have you in my life and enjoy hearing from you when you make comments. Your questions and comments are always welcome here on my blog or on Facebook. I read every one and respond. So, although I may sound like I am a little negative about using media and devices, I am not so much negative as I am learning to be more selective in how I use them . . . which I think is a positive approach. :-)

So, thank you for taking the time today to read this post. It is my hope that you and those you love are happy and healthy. And until we meet again, may the Lord hold you in the hollow of His hand.

Emmy

Resolve



Sunrise from our balcony at
Disney's Wilderness Lodge

It took a week away from home for me to realize some things about my life. Vacations are restorative, fun and, if you go to Disney World, immersive. Even on vacation, or maybe especially on vacation, I require a long wake-up time. Early mornings with my coffee cup in the quiet resort hotel suite gave me time to sort my thoughts about the previous day, look at our vacation photos, and plan for the day ahead. It also gave me the time to contemplate other things...especially how I structure and use the time I have every day at home. Away from the familiar surroundings of my house, yard and community, I could visualize days ahead spent in more comforting and productive ways...days with greater purpose for me and everyone with whom I cross paths. The goals and resolutions will still be listed on lined paper, highlighted, reviewed, rearranged, revised, and probably sometimes ignored; but for the most part I'll try to be more mindful and purposeful in my daily thoughts and actions. My keyword for 2019 is, and will be throughout the year, "resolve".


So, having arrived home with my heart warmed by time on vacation with family, and a fresh perspective on how I want the new year to unfold, I can say with enthusiasm that I am looking forward more to this new year than I can remember in the last few years. I am planning to tackle things that I have put off for a long time. Even though I have been trying to purge closets and cubby holes, there is still a lot of stuff I need to deal with. So, purging will be my January focus. This time I will not try to purge, but I will purge. There is a big difference in those two words, "try" and "will". By the end of the month, many things will be moved out either by donating them, tossing them, or selling them. When February rolls around, in just 25 days, I will work on something different and will work on it for the entire month. I don't know yet what it will be, but it will be immersive, like a Disney World vacation and hopefully my new approach will find me at the end of each month with a sense of comfort from my purposeful and productive approach.


Last year I stepped away from some organizations and from making commitments that would take away from my life with my husband. After four years of his attentive continual care-giving following my surgeries and hospitalizations, he deserved a break. The focus needed to change from being on me to being on him. The year was happy and uneventful. Of course, we had some things come up from time to time that complicated our days and challenged us. There were many opportunities for learning and better ways to do things we have always done the same old way. My decision to focus in 2018 on my husband and our home was a good one. It gave us our lives back and we returned to some normalcy. Now that I feel like I have my feet back on the ground, I hope to get involved again in organizations and activities that I enjoy. But for now, I need to focus on my January resolve and start purging.


Thank you for taking the time to read my post. As always, your questions and comments are welcome here on my blog or on Facebook. I will read them and respond. I hope you and those you love are happy and healthy as you begin this new year. And until we meet again, may the Lord hold you in the Hollow of His hand.


Emmy

Happy New Year!

Here's to a wonderful new year of old and new traditions, happy times with friends and family, and the hope that a new year brings. New Year's Day has always been a bigger deal to me than New Year's Eve. I have written before about my upbringing on a farm. On New Year's Eve, my parents and we children would cluster around the black and white TV and see the old year out and the new year in with Guy Lombardo. On New Year's Day we would have a big dinner, much like Thanksgiving and Christmas, and invite relatives to join us. It was a nice way to begin the many new years that we shared as a family. I miss those New Year's Day gatherings. The hustle and bustle of getting the dinner ready by noon, or one o'clock at the latest . . . farmers eat at regular times, even on holidays . . ., the warm yeast rolls just out of the oven, the relish tray filled with home-canned pickles, cauliflower, beets and other delights, The huge dishes of mashed potatoes, hubbard squash, fresh applesauce, cabbage salad -- never coleslaw -- , a ham or turkey, and my mother's scalloped oysters, followed by lemon meringue pie, mincemeat pie and pumpkin pie. After dinner there was a card game in the kitchen for the men and canasta in the dining room for the women. And later on, there might be time for the ladies to get their handwork out and do some crocheting or knitting or sewing little stuffed pincushions in cute animal shapes. I loved watching them and learning from them. Their hands were never idle and I was the happy recipient of so many things that their hands made for me.


Of course, the glitz of a New Year's Eve party always looked appealing to the little farm girls sitting on the floral-patterned rug in front of the big TV in our living room. As I got older I attended a few of those kinds of parties, and while it was fun to dress up and toast to the new year, it never gave me the same feeling of contentment as those New Year's Eves and New Year's Days on the farm. And living in Western New York means you may end up wearing a down parka over your glamorous sparkly dress and carrying your pretty high heels in your hands while you trudge through the snow in your ugly boots with lug soles. It can be pretty cold and snowy on December 31st and it kind of takes away from the dramatic feeling of making a grand entrance when you walk into the party bundled up like you are going on the the Iditarod Trail!

If you would like a closer look, click on the photo.

Happy New Year Wreath

Whatever way you celebrate this new year, I hope it is spent doing something that gives you a feeling of contentment. I have learned it is okay to celebrate and commemorate special days in my own way, with my own traditions and rituals. If you have special new year's traditions or stories you'd like to share, I'd love to hear them!


As always, I hope you and those you love are happy and healthy. Your questions and comments are welcome and if you comment here on my blog, or on Facebook, I will respond. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog post today and, until we meet again, may the Lord bless you and hold you in the hollow of His hand.


Emmy

More Christmas and Winter Wreaths!

Christmas was just five days ago, but it seems like it was longer than that. I have been transitioning out of the Christmas mode and getting ready for the next season of wreath making, crafting and quilt making! My most creative time of year is during the winter. I am not housebound and on nice days I like to get outside; but on snowy days, I really enjoy staying home and hunkering down and making things. It is also the time of year when ideas for writing short stories and essays come to me. I like to think winter is the time that God gave us to rest, just like the earth does. When springtime comes, I can hardly wait to get outdoors and smell the fresh earth as it awakens from its long winter sleep. For now, though, I am so happy to be inside making things while it snows and the rooms are filled with the reflected light from the snow-covered ground.


To catch you up with what has been happening in my studio, here are some photos of wreaths that needed to be gifted before posting here on my blog. I would hate to ruin a surprise by posting too soon.

Please click on the photos below if you want a closer look.

After Christmas has passed and we get into January, I love the look of cool blues, whites and silver. This wreath just screams cold winter days to me! Brrrrrrrr!

A custom order for someone who saw the wreath I donated to the Gateway Home Winterfest fund raiser. You can see the other wreath I am referring to here:  https://studioemmy.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-no-autumn-autumn.html  This one is a bit fuller and fancier with a few more embellishments than the one I donated. Buffalo check and the little red truck was very popular this Christmas season.

A bit simpler style winter-theme wreath, than the one pictured above. As it turned out, the colors of the ribbons and mesh I used in this one matched the recipient's living room perfectly! Wreaths can be made without a center ornament and still be very pretty. This one is very calming in those denim-like shades of blue.

There are only two more days left in 2018. Something my husband and I like to do is write down a few of the highlights of the past year and share them with each other while the old year passes. When we look back at our calendar, a lot has happened in the last 365 days. Some days were wonderful and some were challenging. But the good news is we survived. We definitely learned many new things, thanks to new experiences, people we have met, our smart phones and Google. If you want to know about something, it is as close as your fingertips. That is a wonderful thing about technology and expands our knowledge and spurs us on to new interests.


As always, I look forward to hearing back from you with any questions or comments you may wish to share. You can comment here on my blog or on Facebook. I read all the comments and will respond.


I hope the close of the year brings you a sense of peace and that the promise of 2019 fills you with hope. May you and those you love enjoy good health and happiness, and until we meet again, may the Lord hold you in the hollow of His hand.


Emmy

An old adage proves to be true . . .

There is that old saying "if you want something done, give it to a busy person". I believe this is accurate and I have experienced it in business and in various volunteer organizations. This is the first Christmas in 5 years that my husband and I have not been impacted by me having surgery or convalescing from surgery. Looking back, we both wonder how we got through those years or got anything done. They were very challenging, especially when almost every time I needed to see my surgeon for checkups last winter, the weather was blizzard like, which made the 45 minute drive to his office a white-knuckled ride. I am very grateful for wonderful surgeons who have helped me get to where I am now . . . healthy again. And even more grateful for my husband, who did everything for me to assure my recovery was the best it could be. From grocery shopping, drug store runs, listings and sales for our real estate business, to nursing care, cooking and cleaning, my husband more than stepped up to the plate. He was my guardian angel. Nobody could ever give me better care than he did. It was demanding and tiring, but not once did he utter a discouraging word, complain or leave me needing anything. He was there for me at all hours. He sat up with me on the tough nights and somehow held it all together.




So, this summer and fall, when Christmas was in the distant future, we were sure this would be more like the kinds of Christmases we used to have . . . before 2014. We'd go to the theater, enjoy long leisurely lunches and dinners while out Christmas shopping, and visit some favorite places that make the holidays more special. But, this Christmas, without the urgency of pre-planning because we knew we'd be quite impacted by me being housebound and him my caregiver, we kind of just drifted through the fall and suddenly, it was almost Christmas! Happily, we had gifts in mind for most people on our Christmas list, so we got to work on shopping and mailing things out. We put the final gift in the mail yesterday with a guaranteed delivery in time for Christmas. Decorations are partly up, but there is much more I want to do. I think that I will be able to focus on those things now that I am finished with gifts!


Because it is the Christmas season, I only show photos of wreaths on my blog after the intended recipient has opened them, like the one below. After Christmas, I will post others, . . . and the new year will bring more designs and wreaths. Watch for Winter-themed, Valentines, Mardi Gras, Easter and Springtime wreaths! I am excited about the new year and what it will hold. I am already taking special orders. :-)

Click on the photos below if you want a closer look.

"Nutcracker Christmas Wreath"

Side view to show the wreath's depth.

My husband and I love the Christmas season, with the special festivities, the pretty lights on people's houses, and our home with our big Christmas tree and all our cherished ornaments. We might make some cookies and decorate them this weekend. We plan to have a nice day here at home, just the two of us, on Christmas. We will make a special breakfast, open presents, and later in the day we will have a special dinner. We will hear the voices of our family members, who all live in other states, when they call; and we will spend the evening enjoying the warmth of the fireplace and the glow of the lights on the tree. We will cue up a favorite old Christmas movie and that will be our Christmas day.




We aren't looking for any more years to be like the last 4, but we are looking forward to being busy and having our lists made by the end of summer, our decorations and purchases taken care of and being ready earlier than this year for Christmas. I think that having things going on, like surgeries and the sense of the unknown recovery time that followed, required  us to be better planners and do-ers. It turned us into the busy people who got things done, instead of the content and complacent couple we have been this year, who just kind of drifted into the holidays. In some ways, we were more ready and on our game then, than this year when we've had good health and the gift of time to carry out our plans . . . had we made any!




Regardless, we are still enjoying every minute of it and the next 4 days will be filled with the fun stuff we have been putting off. So here's to Christmas! I hope yours will be merry.




Thank you for taking the time from your busy day to read my blog. As always, your questions and comments are welcome. You can post them below, or on Facebook. I will read them and respond. And until we meet again, may the Lord hold you in the hollow of His hand.




Emmy

"The No-Autumn Autumn"

Autumn weather went missing this year. It threw me off balance and now I am feeling like I need to play catch up in the gardens, which are still snow covered, but might see the light of day during the warm spell we will have this weekend. The weatherman is predicting a balmy 43 degrees and partial sun for tomorrow! Even though I knew what the calendar on the wall was telling me, I experienced a disconnect between the date and the weather. Out of the 30 days in November, only 4 were without rain or snow! The odd weather patterns fooled the trees into holding on to their leaves, and they did not drop until mid November when we had a hard freeze. They all came down at once, leaving a deep mushy mess on the yard and gardens. Too wet to rake, the brown waterlogged leaves laid on the ground . . . heavy and slippery to walk on. I continued to wait to go outside to do a few things and lost track of the passing of the month until I flipped the calendar page. December arrived . . . right on time and just as promised. Then, it became very cold and snowed. It boggles my mind that today is December 14th! Fall will be officially over in one week when we observe the winter solstice. The best news about that day is that the days will slowly start to get longer. The darkness at the end of the day will fade during winter into spring light. But for now . . . I am playing catch up inside, not outside, since I put off my annual autumn inside chores while I waited for it to arrive. But, do I really have anything to complain about? The answer is "no." When I think about some of the news I have received this week about people who are having serious health concerns, my problems are minuscule and while I pray for them to be comforted during their trials, I thank God for sparing me the unimaginable heartache that is theirs to bear 24/7. There, but for the grace of God, go I.




While I spent the days inside in limbo, awaiting beautiful autumn days that never came, I continued to hone my wreath-making skills. Here are a few I can now show you because they have been given to their recipients. Each of the wreaths is approximately 24 inches across and about 6 to 7 inches deep.

Click on the photos to enlarge them, if you want a closer look.

"Let it Snow"

This wreath can be left up well after Christmas! My husband liked it so much, he asked if we could keep it for ourselves.

Since he has chauffeured me around Buffalo on countless shopping trips for the materials I needed, and has been my sole design consultant, I think he is more than a deserving recipient of this one! 💖

"Little Red Truck"

I donated this to the Gateway House in Attica, New York, for their basket raffle event during the Attica Winterfest. It sports the very popular little red truck and Buffalo check that you find just about everywhere this Christmas!



"Merry Christmas"

I made this for my sister and her husband. It made the trip across the country in one piece! My sister has a Santa collection, so I thought this would be the perfect accompaniment to go with it

Part of today will be spent getting more of the house decorated for Christmas. Even though we are behind schedule, we are not going to let the joy of decorating be diminished by any feelings of being late. Every year just can't be the same, and they never really are. So while we listen to Christmas carols, watch Christmas movies and eventually get all, or just about all, the decorations put up, we will rejoice that we are able to spend one more Christmas season together and pray for those who are having challenges and difficulties that are sometimes made larger by the existence of all the merriment surrounding them.


During this season of advent, I am grateful for you, my readers, for taking time out of your busy days to read my posts, and I will keep you close in prayer, hoping that your holiday will be one of comfort and joy. As always, your questions and comments are welcome. You can leave a comment below or on Facebook. I will read it and respond. And until we meet again, may the Lord hold you in the palm of His hand.


Emmy